Explainer-What is FEMA, the US emergency management agency under fire from Trump? From Reuters
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Sunday issued an executive order establishing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Board of Review, just days after he floated closing an agency strained by multiple weather-related disasters and burdened by past failures to resolve Massive Storm.
Last Friday, the Republican president floated the idea of shutting down FEMA during a trip to disaster areas in North Carolina and California, hit by hurricanes and massive wildfires.
What is FEMA? The federal agency’s mission is to help people before, during and after disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods. FEMA brings emergency personnel, supplies, and equipment to eligible areas.
Its reputation was tarnished by its mishandling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the agency has struggled to recover. Trump has criticized FEMA on the campaign trail and since taking office on Monday. FEMA has a workforce of 20,000 that can swell to more than 50,000 active members during major disasters, according to its website. It has 10 regional offices and the ability to coordinate resources from across the federal government. Officially created in 1979, it became part of the Department of Homeland Security in 2004.
Trump’s criticism
Trump has accused FEMA of throwing out emergency relief efforts in North Carolina and said he prefers states get federal money to deal with disasters on their own. During Friday’s visit, he said the agency should be fundamentally reformed or even abolished.
“FEMA has turned out to be a disaster,” he said during a tour of a North Carolina neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Helena in September. “I think we’re recommending that FEMA go away.”
Trump has also criticized California’s response to the recent wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles, but he stood up during a working visit with California Gov. Gavin News and offered help to La. Mayor Karen Bass.
FEMA staff say FEMA currently supports 108 major disasters and 10 emergency declarations. According to its daily operations briefing, 17% of its workforce is available for disaster response.
After Trump said he wanted to overhaul or abolish FEMA, acting agency director Cam Hamilton wrote to staff and assured them that “FEMA is a critical agency that performs an essential mission in support of our national security.” Hamilton is the former Navy SEAL Trump appointed to lead the agency on an interim basis after the Republican president took office last week.
FEMA funding
Funding for the agency has increased in recent years as extreme weather events have increased demand for its services. The agency received $29 billion from Congress in December to fund relief efforts.
A FEMA spokeswoman told Reuters last week that the agency had not received additional funding to reimburse states for ongoing recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina and the American Southeast in late September.
There have been no presidential actions or congressional appropriations under the current Trump administration to provide additional funding to FEMA for hurricane recovery efforts, and there are no credible reports of such funding.
A disinformation campaign, responding to real-life disasters, FEMA has also combated false rumors about how its funds have been used. Before his re-election, Trump and his Republican allies accused former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamal Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, of using federal emergency money to help people who were in the country illegally. US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene went so far as to say that government officials control the weather.
FEMA has been the target of so many falsehoods that it has set up a rumor response page on its website to debunk them. One entry addresses the charge that FEMA diverted Fun to the border.
“This is false. There is no money from disaster risk needs. FEMA’s response efforts and individual assistance are funded through the Disaster Relief Fund, which is a dedicated fund for disaster efforts. Other non-cadastre efforts.” FEMA the agency’s failures have been criticized for its emergency responses to passing hurricanes, including Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017. Residents accused then-President Trump of being slow to send aid after Maria and clumsy in his public remarks after it was clear the US territory was devastated. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina battered New Orleans and flooded parts of the city as residents crammed into ill-prepared shelters. Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and caused more than 1,800 deaths. It also tarnished the reputation of FEMA, which has been heavily criticized for its response.
